Not All Things Change

I read a lot of books. Some fire service related and others aren't. I typically prefer historical or biographies of influential characters of our history.  I also really enjoy the fire service books that share stories and experiences that are easy to relate to. Relativity is a good thing!

While teaching some of my classes the topic of today's fire service being so much different than from years ago always comes up.  There is no doubt that we are fighting fires in a much different environment than in years past. But, how different is what we are doing on the fireground from the way we did it 20 years ago?

Now I understand that we have to make changes and improvements and I am usually one of the biggest advocates if it is something that makes sense.  But, change for the sake change is not good and usually causes more problems than not.

The real reason for this blog post is to encourage all of you to obtain a copy of and read and re-read Tom Brennan's "Random Thoughts."  I keep this book with me just about all of the time and it is crazy good stuff. I marvel over and over again at the timely material and tactical suggestions that are from 1991!  Yes, they are still relevant!

I never knew Mr. Brennan, but his 'random thoughts' are timeless.  Just the most basic of topics like using a roof ladder is made interesting and is still very applicable today.  How to stretch a hose line and how to search. It's all in there.

I am not one for plugging products or materials, but I feel if 'we' in the fire service would follow the advice in this book and learn and share from these nuggets of knowledge, we would all be much better served, and safe.

Take some time to get back to the basics of firefighting and read this book. Just pick a page or two a day, and keep doing that for your career.  You and the firefighters that you share with will be much better for it and so will the people you protect.

Thanks for reading and take care,
Jason